THE CATERPILLAR 



283 



CH. XVI.] 



zling white, and dotted with jetty spots so placed as 

 to heighten the whole effect. 



There is a tribe of caterpillars which, from their 

 regular and measured method of moving, have been 

 called " Surveyors." They first fix the head and 

 bring the tail close to it, the intervening body being 

 bent into an arch ; the head is then stretched out 

 again and fixed in another place. By this means 

 each progressive movement is rendered of equal 

 length, and hence the name which has been bestowed 

 upon them. Many of these possess the curious 

 faculty of remaining stiffly in the same position, and 

 jutting out into the air, so that not only their natural 

 enemies, the birds, but even man, have mistaken 

 them for twigs of the shrubs on which they happen 

 to be placed. 



Rosel's gardener, having taken up what he thought 

 a piece of wood, dropped it with horror, when he 

 perceived that it began to writhe between his fingers. 



